Sid-y Escape
by Weavillain
Summary: Clyde McBride's first trip to Ronnie Anne's new home takes quite an unexpected turn. Quite literally, in fact. Then again, it wasn't like he had much of a choice.
1. Chapter 1

Another Saturday morning could only mean one thing; Clincoln McCloud were on the move.

This time, though, the two boys weren't alone. Then again, how else could they expect to arrive at Great Lakes City by twelve o'clock without Lori driving them there? Thus, Clyde McBride found himself in a place where he often wasn't—in the backseats of Vanzilla with his best buddy literally by his side.

"You excited about seeing the big city for the first time?" Lori asked, her question posed in the obvious direction.

"Sure am!" Clyde said, his huge grin beaming, before she shot a look over at Lincoln. "And I bet Lincoln's just as pumped!"

The boy in question raised up his hand. "You know it! Clincoln McCloud's gonna hit the city big time!"

Clyde knew what to do from there, and gave his best friend's hand a hearty slap, followed by a rapid-fire series of hand motions that connected in perfect sync. With the last of their signature handshake completed, it was the perfect time for their one-woman audience to chuckle at their antics, along with an eye-roll.

"You guys are such dorks," Lori teased, lightness laced in her tone. "I don't know _how_ Ronnie Anne's gonna handle you two."

The mention of his not-co-close friend made Clyde flinch, a cold feeling of uneasiness murmuring in his gut—it was easy to forget that his big venture into brand new territory wouldn't be without someone else tagging along. As quickly as he tried to tamp down his flash of anxiousness, it didn't go unnoticed from Lincoln, who already knew where Clyde's head was.

"Relax, Clyde," Lincoln said, placing a hand on Clyde's shoulder. "It's like I said before−you're _not_ gonna get brushed off. I'm sure Ronnie Anne'll be happy to see you, too."

Regardless of his friend's best intentions, Clyde still had his doubts. "You think so? I mean, we weren't exactly close before she moved, y'know."

"Look at it this way. I've had plenty of bumps on the road with with h-_WOAH_!"

On cue, the ride suddenly became bumpier, nearly jostling the two boys out of their seats.

"Pothole," Lori grumbled irritably. "Seriously, when is Mayor Davis gonna do something about them? I've gotten five flats in the past month because of those stupid things."

Seconds after the burst of adrenaline wore off, Lincoln picked up where he left off.

"Like I was saying, things between me and Ronnie Anne weren't always the best, but we worked 'em out. But you? You've always have a clean slate with her and that was back when she poured food down my pants on a regular basis."

Clyde's eyebrow popped up. "Doesn't she _still_ do that?"

"Not as much. The point is, she's not as rough around the edges anymore and you don't have a bad history with her. She's gonna want to catch up on old times again with you. I just know it."

Like the other times Lincoln tried to talk him into feeling better about seeing Ronnie Anne again, Clyde had to admit that his apprehension was put to rest a tiny bit. There was a still a better part of his rational side, however, that was firmly in the camp of "seeing his believing".

And now that he had room to think about things, there was also the matter of Ronnie Anne's new friend to consider as well. Sid, was it? Lincoln hadn't mentioned much about her whenever he talked to him about his video chat sessions. They were both in the dark about her beyond her first name. What was _she_ gonna be like? Clyde guessed that she would tag along with them at some point. He could only imagine what kind of awkwardness would unfold from him not knowing what to do around a total stranger while trying to get to know Ronnie Anne better AND get as much bro time down with Lincoln as he could before they'd have to leave the city at six.

He could find a measure in comfort in the fact that, like most of life's most tense situations, Lincoln would always be there to see him through to the end. If the time came for panicking and spiraling, it'd be when the journey to the city was over.

In the meantime, there was still plenty of time before they reached their destination, which presented the perfect opportunity for the ultimate time-passer: several rousing _ARRGH!_-centered sessions of 20 Questions.

As usual, Lori was far from interested in joining in.

* * *

Cities weren't new to Clyde, thanks a commute to his grandmother's house from time to time for a weekend visit, but he couldn't help but keep his face and hands plastered to the window in wide-eyed wonder as the towering buildings, bustling sidewalks, and colorful billboards of Great Lake City passed him by. While Lincoln wasn't about to do anything to break his buddy's trance, Lori was quick to cut in once she saw what he was doing.

"Clyde, I wouldn't do that if I were you," Lori advised. "Lily threw up on that window yesterday."

Immediately, Clyde peeled back and retched, sputtering as he tried to spit out whatever residual specks of baby vomit he might've accidentally ingested. Despite his friend's peril, Lincoln couldn't help but chuckle.

"Sorry," he said. "I should've warned you about that myself. It was just nice seeing you digging the city scene so much."

Clyde was put back in a good mood simply by remembering where he was and what he had seen.

"You're telling me!" he said. "I haven't seen a Burpin' Burger advertisement that big in my life!"

Lori jumped in with some bad news. "Too bad its _false_ advertisement. The last time I was here, Bobby and I tried to find one for our lunch date and wound up wasting half a tank of gas in the process. We were literally just driving around for hours."

"Who knows?" Lincoln said. "Maybe we'll find one once we meet up with Ronnie Anne."

"Without a GPS by your side? Good luck."

The thought of mouth-watering burgers came to and end once Lori pulled up to a stop in front of what Clyde could tell was just an ordinary apartment building.

"Welp, we're here," Lincoln said as he unbuckled his seat belt. He spared a look at Clyde and smiled at him before he got out of Vanzilla.

Clyde began to fiddle with his, too, but halted in his tracks as his driver's high pitched squealing pierced his eardrums. He didn't even need to look up to know what that meant.

"BOO-BOO BEAR!" Lori cried as she hastily scrambled out of her seat and exited the van.

Clyde's imagination took over from there as he looked back down at his seat belt to undo the clasp, visualizing the image to go along with all the bubbly conversation and kissy sounds that were going on within his range of hearing. Although he wasn't hopelessly in love with Lori anymore, he couldn't help but feel his heart get pricked with longing jealousy whenever Lori and Bobby were together.

Once he was free, he looked out the window and sure enough, there were the lovesick teenagers in a tight hug as Lincoln and...and…

Clyde swallowed nervously._ 'Ronnie Anne'_

She still looked the same as always, minus the new bags under her eyes she was sporting. Her friendly shoulder jabs also looked the same and probably felt the same, too, something that Lincoln could vouch for after getting smacked with one just now. Ironically, now that he had a right mind to just sit back and watch the good vibes go on without him, if anyone needed a good smack—preferably across the back of his head—it was him. He had Lincoln's word to lean on. He could at least respect his confidence by getting out of the car.

Without about as much bravery as he could muster, Clyde freed himself from his seat belt and before he knew it, had left the comforting seats of Vanzilla for the scene of friends before him. It only took a few approaching steps before Bobby took notice of him and broke out of his hug with Lori to greet him.

"Yo, man!" he said. "It's been a while!"

He mussed Clyde's hair for a bit, the jostling motions getting the boy to laugh a little.

"And it look like you got a little taller. That's probably because you eat your veggies instead of trying to pass 'em off to the dog." He looked back at Ronnie Anne and teased with with a knowing smirk. "Like a certain little sister of mine does."

Ronnie Anne blushed. "One time, Bobby! It was one time!"

"Sure was. And later that night, you found out why letting Lalo eat broccoli is not a good idea, especially if you let him sleep in your room."

"Ugh. Don't remind me." She turned around when she heard stifled laughter and sure enough, Lincoln was trying to hide his snickering smile behind his hand. She cracked a smile of his own. "And just what are you _laughing_ at? You asking for a headlock or what?"

"I'd like to see you try!" Lincoln challenged and made a break for the stairs with Ronnie Anne in tow.

Soon, the two friends were laughing and running about, teasing each other with light barbs and mocking threats. Unbeknownst to them, Lori was having the time of her life looking on at them as she recorded the scene on her phone while trying her best not to squeal and ruin the footage. When she felt that she had enough, Lori put her phone away and tugged on Bobby's arm.

"C'mon, Bobby," she urged. "We've only got about a few hours to enjoy ourselves before you have to go back to work at the bodega."

"You got it, babe," he replied as they walked hand-in-hand to Vanzilla. "Is there anything in theaters you wanna see before we eat?"

"I couldn't care less. Just sitting in a dark room with you for two hours is enough for me."

"Me too!"

With that, the teenagers were off, leaving the three kids behind in a cloud of dust as they sped off in Vanzilla. Clyde was left with nothing to do but wade through choppy waters as he closed in on Ronnie Anne, who had finally caught up with Lincoln and had him in a vice-grip headlock, accompanied by noogies to pile up on the "torture". She looked up just in time to see Clyde waving at her.

"H-hey, Ronnie Anne," he said with a nervous smile. "What's up?"

He took pride himself for getting through that with minimal stuttering, but he was caught off guard when Ronnie Anne's smile dropped, leaving him to deal with her confused expression as she let Lincoln go.

"I'm sorry, do I...know you from somewhere?" she asked warily, her eyes squinted.

Without missing a beat, all of Clyde's fears toppled over him like mounds of dirt, rendering him into a state of hurt and disbelief. He sighed pitifully as his shoulders drooped, his throat suddenly swelling. He expected her to brush him off in favor of Lincoln, but was he so unremarkable that he couldn't even leave a lasting impression on her?

Before he could feel any worse, he was suddenly brought down to Earth with a big slap on the back. He recoiled in the shock of the impact and the sound of Ronnie Anne...laughing? What on Earth? He blinked, and was surprised when the sight didn't leave him, as if his mind had been playing tricks on him.

"I'm just kidding!" she said. "C'mon, now, did you really think I'd forget about Clyde McBride, aka Lame-O #2? Please."

Clyde sighed again, this time in relief, as he straightened up and rubbed the back of his head. "I-I guess we lame-os are hard to forget, huh?"

"You betcha." When she paused to laugh at his joke, Clyde could see Lincoln looking at him with an unmistakable "Told ya so!" look on his face, complete with a sassy wiggle of his eyebrows and his hands on his hips. "But honestly, I thought I'd never see you in person again."

"Really? Why's that?"

"Aren't your dads the kind of people to cover you in bubble wrap before you take a shower? I never thought they'd let you all the way out here without them."

Clyde had to chuckle at that one, both for the funniness and because it was yet another sign that Ronnie Anne remembered enough about him to matter.

"Well, they still made sure to give me three rules to stick to—don't talk to strangers, don't go into any dirty alleys, and try not to pass out where no one can help you."

"Those sound pretty reasonable. Sounds a lot better than the times when they'd give you twenty rules of precaution for licking envelopes."

"They _still_ do. Paper cuts on the tongue are serious business."

From there, the trio headed out, with Ronnie Anne leading the way. Though all three friends were more than happy to entertain themselves with stories about what they had been up to, in order to bring the other party up to speed, there was one item of business that Ronnie Anne was directing them towards.

Lunch.

* * *

"Shut up!" Ronnie Anne said with a smile, looking at both Lincoln and Clyde with incredulity. "You're both liars, and terrible ones at that!"

Lincoln shrugged. "It's true."

"You had to be there," Clyde said.

Ronnie Anne shook her head. "There is no way that you went around school wearing a cheese hat! No way!"

Clyde was wondering if they'd ever be able to get the story over with her at this rate. It had been five minutes and she still hadn't budged. He decided to drop it, however, when he remembered that this trio was going to be a quartet once they met up with Sid. He didn't know if they'd see her once Ronnie Anne took him to that _Full-n-Buster_ restaurant she had been hyping up or somewhere else. Either way, Clyde figured it'd be a good opportunity to get to know what to expect before their inevitable encounter.

"So," Clyde said, cutting into Lincoln and Ronnie Anne's conversation, "when're we gonna meet Sid?"

Lincoln's eyes widened as he snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah! I almost forgot!"

The boys were thrown for a loop when Ronnie Anne suddenly sulked and frowned. She kicked a nearby pebble out of her path as she stuffed her hands in her hoodie pocket.

"Not today," she said. "Yesterday, she got bit by one of the lemurs at the zoo and got rabies."

Clyde winced. "Ouch. I hope she's okay."

"Same," Lincoln said. "That really stinks."

Ronnie Anne sighed. "Yeah, I'll say. We'd be having a lot more fun if Sid was here. Besides my family, she's been the best part about moving here."

Clyde was about to say something to lighten the mood, but Lincoln made his move first—he put his hand on Ronnie Anne's shoulder and squeezing it. She replied by smiling and shuffling just a little closer to him. Soon, his arm was around her neck, and to Clyde's shock, she didn't flip him over and put him in a sleeper hold for being "too mushy" with her.

He was too shocked and elated to feel like a third wheel looking on. He had always had his suspicions about the two of them, and it was nice to see that after all this time, their distance had seemed to only draw them closer together.

He let them have their moment together while he quietly trailed behind him, letting the new sights of the city and his friends cozing up together allow the anticipation of a great day to bubble up inside him.

…

And then, those same bubbles turned to chilling ice and blasted at his nerves as a hand quickly slapped over his mouth. Beads of cold sweat seeped out of his skin, and his head swiveled about, looking around for anyone who could help him escape from this unknown assailant. Before a muffled cry could come out of him, he was quickly yanked backwards and dragged around a corner. His flailing and struggling failed him as before he knew it, he was surrounded by the dirty, grimed-stained walls…

...of a tight, damp alleyway.


	2. Chapter 2

Did...did he hear something just now? It was a weird question to ask himself, considering that he was surrounded by whizzing cars and conversation from a sidewalk bustling with life, but still...

Lincoln could've sworn that he heard the faintest sound an earshot away from him, but he didn't have the presence of mind to give as little as a turn of his head to look around and see. He remembered Ronnie Anne saying something about the city pigeons being strange little beasts who'd make a ruckus every now and then, so he passed off the noise as nothing more than literal bird-brained nonsense.

...

Or maybe that was all just an excuse to soak up the here and now—one of his best friends nearly joined together at the hip, his arm slung around her neck, her body warmth as cozy as a Bun-Bun snuggle…

And the best part? No Bobby or Lori to make it weird. Despite knowing that both teenagers were well-versed in some of high school's most rigorous math courses, those two _still_ couldn't figure out the simple equation of "two friends + one hug =/= marriage". Why would he want to take himself out of the moment for one single second just to check on some dopey pigeons, especially when he was still getting used to Ronnie Anne accepting his tender advances?

…

Tender, _platonic_ advances.

They cleared another block—entering a much quieter section of the city—before Ronnie Anne finally spoke up, her mood visibly improved if the small grin she now wore was any indication.

"Hey, Lincoln?"

"'Sup?"

Her grin grew wider as mischievous light danced in her eyes. "You wanna know what the best part about 'Fill-n'-Buster's' is?"

He felt his gut tense slightly with fluttery pangs, something Lincoln thought nothing more than anticipation for what was to come.

"Oh yeah?" he asked with a grin of his own, raising an eyebrow and slightly lowering his head down to bore a matching gaze right back to hers. "And what would that be?"

Expecting a verbal retort right away, Lincoln was taken aback when she suddenly but gingerly nudged his head to the side, exposing his ear to the tiniest sliver of the brush of her lips as she leaned in—his stomach did that tingly gut clench thing again and...and was it just him or was the Sun suddenly a lot hotter on his face, namely around his cheeks.

He was self-conscious of it all, but thankfully Ronnie Anne wasn't intent on commenting on it as she whispered, the pressure of her taunt tickling the inside of his ear, "We like to eat our food, not wear it on our heads. How's that for a change of pace, _cheese-for-brains_?"

He couldn't process the playful insult properly—not without trying to swallow against his sudden dry throat and focus past the strange mushing effect her proximity had on his brain—but Ronnie Anne was quick to step away from him a bit. That opening let him catch his breath a little before he turned to her, a reply already on the tip of his tongue.

"You're gonna wish I was anything but a 'cheese-for-brains' after I trump you in _Galagar Conquest_ when we get back to your place," he said, his bravado pronounced in every word. "I've been practicing like crazy since-"

"I whipped your scrawny little butt the last time you came over?" she asked without missing a beat.

For the sake of keeping up appearances, he refused to admit that she was a little...kinda...very much on the mark with that one.

"You mean, 'since I barely escaped you'," he replied.

She scoffed and smirked as she rolled her eyes. "Whatever helps you sleep better at night, rookie. Just don't come crying to me for advice after I've slaughtered you."

"Sleep? What is this 'sleep' you speak of? I've been training like a madman for five days straight, just for this day. You won't get ahead of me this time. Isn't that right, Clyde?"

He held back his fist, expecting a bump and an affirmative word.

When that didn't happen within three seconds, he thought nothing of it.

When that didn't happen within ten seconds, his curiosity was piqued.

"Clyde?" he asked again, dread starting to trickle into his tone as his eyes widened and his heart began to race.

Ronnie Anne thought nothing of it. "Pfft. Even _he_ knows that you're full of it."

Ignoring the joke, he finally looked over his shoulder…

...and felt his heart drop like a stone as he stood in a state of frozen shock. His worst fears were confirmed: Clyde was nowhere to be found.

"Clyde?!" he shouted, prompting Ronnie Anne to turn around herself.

Her jaw nearly fell to the floor, the absence of Clyde scalding her like a bucket of ice water poured over her head.

"What?!" she cried, looking to Lincoln. "W-where'd he go?!"

He rushed forward and grabbed her by the shoulders, his brow seeping with sweat and his nerves a jumbled, frayed mess.

"I don't know! He was just here a second ago, wasn't he?!"

"Well, _I_ thought so!"

"How could this happen?!"

"I don't know!"

"What'd we do?!"

"I don't know!"

"Where do we look?!"

"Lincoln, for the last time, I don't kn-"

Their frantic volley of raised voices and heightened concern was interrupted by buzzing and muffled K-pop lyrics radiating from Ronnie Anne's pocket. She let out a breath of annoyance and fished it out, doing so while Lincoln stood there in stasis, his mind racing at a million miles a minute with the thoughts of guilt for letting this happen to one of his best friends while he was having the time of his life reconnecting with Ronnie Anne and, worst of all, from worry over where his buddy could be in such a big city.

What if he had been kidnapped? Mugged? Kidnapped, _then_ mugged? He'd never know if he'd ever see Clyde again, and it was all his stupid fault.

Meanwhile, Ronnie Anne was glaring at her phone screen, her teeth bared in a snarl.

"Really, Sid?! Of all the times you text me, it has to be _now_?!" She shoved the phone away and kicked a nearby soda can into the streets. "Dang it! I was hoping it was Clyde! Now what're we supposed to do?!"

Whether she knew it or not, her words gave inspiration to Lincoln's next move. He was still an anxious, hyper mess as he fiddled his own phone out, but he had the makings of a plan in mind—something that a clearer head would've thought of a lot sooner than now.

"I-It's fine!" he assured her as he started dialing. "You take care of whatever Sid wants! I'll try calling Clyde!"

"Gotcha!" she said, and went to work right away.

After dialing, he clutched the phone near to his ear for dear life, as if it was the last literal lifeline between him and his friend's safety. His spluttering mantra of "Please, pick up!" failed to relieve him of tension as the sound of the other line ringing droned on mockingly, as if his phone was berating him for his carelessness.

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

Lincoln jumped, his phone flying out of his hands and falling to the pavement below. He gave it no mind as he glanced over to Ronnie Anne and briefly saw the most horrifying expression of stupefied anger that he had ever seen in his life before it sloppily shifted into a sheepish grin once their eyes met.

She giggled nervously. "I-I mean, uh, I-I think I know where Clyde is."

* * *

Black. So much black.

He was swimming in a void of darkness, the only signs of life creeping in being the honking of car horns. Even though he was still idly pushing against the heavy drag of unconsciousness, he could still feel a hard slab of wood holding up his head from underneath his neck and his back was pressed against a familiar surface. His limbs were limp, save for his fingers as they began to twitch.

"Uhhhh," he groaned, the veil of black slowly but surely ebbing away as his eyes started to flutter open.

At first, everything was colorful, blurry smear, not helped but what he knew was the Sun meshing into his eyes with its stinging rays of light but as the sensation of grogginess passed and his eyes started to finally adjust, the blurs turned into the tops of tall buildings and dazzling billboards.

'_I'm...I'm still in the city,'_ Clyde thought, letting out another groan as his head flopped up, trying to escape from the stabbing pressure that his neck was leaning against. _'But how did I get here?'_

He glanced around, and his budding suspicions were all but confirmed—he was on a wooden bench, caught within the loud, noisy throng of city life as strangers passed him by. He rubbed his eyes and smacked his lips, as if he had just taken a power nap and was trying to come alive. It wouldn't be completely inaccurate to say that he _had_ taken a nap, except for one thing.

Naps were supposed to be voluntary and Clyde didn't remember willingly going to sleep. The only thing he knew for certain was that one minute, he was trailing behind Lincoln and Ronnie Anne and then the next…

'_Ugh, what happened? How the heck did I end up here?'_

He didn't know what to chalk this up to, but a somber realization suddenly smacked him in the face like a pillow case full of lead, and his hands drew up to the side of his head as his fingers clutched his hair.

Lincoln and Ronnie Anne must've been worried sick about him! He had no idea how much time had gone by between him blanking out and now, but there was no way that they weren't running around the city like beheaded chickens right now!

He hurriedly looked around, hoping to find some sign of them calling out for him as they paced around in distraught. He found nothing of comfort after a few seconds, but as soon as he turned to his left, he was met with a person of vague interest. Clyde couldn't say that this was his first time seeing a girl around his age, but..._something_ about her looked familiar, despite knowing for a fact that they had never met before. It was enough to make him take pause and take everything about her in.

She had on a blue long-sleeved shirt that revealed her the light skin of her freckled shoulders and her black shorts and shoes finished off the combo. Her long brown hair was clipped up at the crown of her head by a light pink headband. What was the most striking of her features, however, was the nervous smile that she wore as the "deer in the headlights" look in her big, doe eyes made him flinch—just what was she so skittish about...and why was _he_ suddenly so tense?

"Uhhh...hi?" she greeted with a little wave of her hand, her obvious attempt at disarming his apprehension failing with each passing second.

If anything, it was building up, as if steam was bubbling underneath the surface of a tightly sealed lid. Anxiety was chugging through his veins in red-hot streams, now, and he couldn't stop himself from shuddering and scooting away to the farthest side of the bench, as if he was trying to escape from...from…

_Escape_.

He nearly toppled over the bench as he let out a shrill yell, the foggy bits of memory flashing in his mind and jumbling together.

He had been suddenly swept off his feet as he gagged with a hand over his mouth, then dragged away to a dark alley…

And _that_ face. That face was the first thing he saw as she looked down on him, with that same shoddy attempt at pacifying him on her face as she looked down on him with jittery smile. Darkness swept over him immediately afterwards, and now he knew why—he was so frightened out of his wits that he had passed out.

Her smile dropped as she reached out to him, as if she wanted to take him away somewhere else. "W-wait! Hold on a second! Let me expl-"

"AAAAAAH! HELP! SOMEONE HELP ME!" he yelled, her protests falling on deaf ears.

His ruckus caused heads to turn, and the girl was quick to try to diffuse the attention they were getting.

"He's just...ummm...a-acting the part of a school play, everybody! He's _reaaaaaaaally_ into it, so don't disturb him, okay?!"

Anyone who bothered to look their way just shrugged and went on their way, leaving a hyperventilating Clyde at her mercy. He was rocking back and forth in a fetal position, shaking like a brittle leaf in heavy rushes of wind. He shut his eyes as he felt her approach him again and sure enough, he felt her hand softly grip his arm—he squeaked and shuddered even harder at the contact.

"Clyde, I swear I'm not gonna hurt you," she said, her words making his eyes burst open at the mention of his name. "Just please let me explain."

Despite everything, he was calmed just enough not to scream out, "W-who are you and...h-how do you know my n-name?"

Her words of assurance felt meaningless but her expression of penance...it just couldn't match the hardened look of a typical kidnapper who would've done way worse to a passed out victim than leaving them on a bench and staying by their side.

And now that he had his bearings, he could still feel his phone, his wallet, and his inhaler in his pants pockets—if this girl had wanted to rob him of his valuables, she did a horrible job.

Just what the heck was going on? And would this mysterious stranger make any sense of it?

"Ronnie Anne told me about you and Lincoln," she explained. "You fit the description, so I knew who you were when I spotted you."

Before he could ask how she knew Ronnie Anne, she drew her hand away and held it out to him. "I'm Sid Chang, Ronnie Anne's best friend. It's...uh...nice to meet you."

He just stared blankly at her hand, his wariness not letting him shake it. He still had way more questions than answers for his liking.

"Wait a minute..._you're_ Sid Chang?" he asked.

"Yep," she said with a nod.

"Aren't you supposed to be sick in bed with rabies? What're you doing out here?"

Her brow pinched in confusion as she titled her head. "Rabies? What rabies?"

"Ronnie Anne told us that you couldn't hang out with us because you got bit by a lemur at the zoo and got rabies."

At first, she just stared at him like he had grown an extra pair of eyes on his neck...and then she burst out laughing. He could only just stare back, completely flabbergasted. She finally found the wherewithal to respond after a good twenty seconds.

"Oooooooh, that's right. My, uh, 'rabies'," she said, wrapping up the last word with air quotes. "Man, where do I come up with this stuff?"

"'Come up with this stuff'? Wait, you mean you-"

"Yuuuuuup. I lied."

Her reply was way too cheery to be comforting.

"You...lied?" he confirmed more than he asked.

She beamed. "Yep, yep, yep. Yessir, one big fib to rule them all."

Clyde sighed. Great, now things were making even less sense. And what was worse, this liar/pseudo-kidnapper named Sid Chang seemed more than happy to lead him along at her own pace, keeping him in the dark for her own amusement. Regardless, he _needed_ to get to the bottom of this.

"But why?" he asked.

At the drop of her hat, her eyes began to dazzle as she balled her hands together and pressed them into her cheek.

"Clyde, have you ever seen true love before your very eyes, unbridled passion that just makes your heart burst every time you see it?"

He didn't know what to make of the sudden shift, so he lazily shrugged and said, "I...guess so?"

"And so did I. The other day, Ronnie Anne was talking about how you and Lincoln were visiting the city, and that she couldn't wait to introduce me to you guys. So I asked her what I could expect. She said you both were pretty fun guys, but..." She sighed happily. "But when she started talking about Lincoln, I just...I've never seen her like that before, so happy and full of life, and I've practically known her forever."

She had to take pause at her choice of words, and she chuckled into her hand before she continued.

"Okay, so maybe not 'forever' but still! Anyways, I just had this gut feeling that she _reaaaaaaaally_ liked this Lincoln guy and since it's been ages since they've seen each other, I wanted to stay out of the way so that they could get close to each other. So, I lied about getting the rabies so that I wouldn't be third wheeling them. But you see, there was something else that I had to deal with..."

Clyde pointed to himself. "You mean me?"

"Yeah. I figured you guys were going to drop by her apartment and since I lived there, I just looked out my window and waited for you and Lincoln to show up. Once you guys were on the move, I left and started following you. I had to wait a while before there weren't a lot of people around before I nabbed you, though—I didn't want anyone getting the wrong idea. I was gonna tell you all about what I'm telling you now back at that alley..." She looked away and brought back that embarrassed grin from before. "...but then you kinda passed out on me."

His agitation flared up at the mention of that, and he scowled at her with folded arms. "Can you blame me? You practically kidnapped me."

She was too stymied to give him a reply to that, but he was too wrapped up with pressing her for answers instead of demanding another apology. Besides, he had to admit that she at least looked like she was really sorry. Plus, by this point, her story seemed to check out so far, so there was less reason to be as irate as he was now.

"Okay, and _then_ what?" he asked.

She faced him again, a measure of her ease restored now that he wasn't boring holes into her.

"I had to drag you to the nearest bus stop, which is where we're at right now. Good thing you're not very heavy, plus it wasn't too far away."

Just to confirm her words, he gazed behind her head and sure enough, there was a bus stop sign on the other side of the bench. He looked to her again, still needing some more holes in this confusing chain of events to fill in.

"And what exactly was I supposed to do the whole time? Just wait around for them to come back from hanging out together?" he asked, then thought of something else to question her on. "And speaking of them, how did you think that they weren't going to come looking for me after I vanished?"

Her face lit, as if she was getting to that best part of a long story.

"I took care of that shortly after you fainted," she said. "I had to come clean with what I was doing and texted Ronnie Anne to cover for you by having her tell Lincoln that you were gonna run back to the apartment and take care of me and my 'rabies'."

"And...she went through with it?"

"Hey, they haven't come looking for you yet, and it's been about an hour since I brought you here. I think it's safe to say that we're in the clear." She abruptly laughed a little, throwing Clyde off guard. "Although, she didn't let me off the hook completely—I had no idea so many angry face emojis could fit into one text. Anyways, as for you, I was gonna do what Ronnie Anne did for me the first few days I was here—show you around and have a good time doing it."

But then, out of the blue, her earlier sadness returned—she slumped in her seat and her bottom lip puckered out. "But I understand if you don't want that. We can always just find Lincoln and Ronnie, and I'll tell them what I did. Again, I'm really sorry that you went through all of that. It wasn't supposed to happen like this."

Clyde wasn't entirely sure which emotion had the most reign over his faculties.

On one hand, he was astonished beyond all belief. What Sid had just told him and put him through was perhaps the most insane experience of his entire life, and he had been Lincoln's best friend for the past six years or so. This wasn't something that he could see ever happening to him ever again and quite frankly, he was okay with that. He wasn't about to wish that he could get mixed up in the whims of a girl who was clearly a few fries short of a happy meal…

Then again, call him out of his mind, but he felt compelled to actually..._respect_ Sid. Not just for her willingness to come up with such a crazy plan—ultimately sacrificing her chance of meeting Lincoln for the first time for another day and depriving herself of hang time with her best friend—but for her intuition.

He couldn't lie to himself and say that he never saw saw sparks between Lincoln and Ronnie Anne; he literally saw them being sweet together just before Sid got involved. He didn't know what he could call their relationship, but he had known for a while that there was clearly more than a simple friendship going on, even if neither of them wanted to admit it. After all, if they didn't like the idea of hanging out by themselves after all this fiasco went down, wouldn't Ronnie Anne have refused to go along with Sid's plan in the first place?

'_Guess there's only one thing left to do,'_ he thought to himself, remembering the lesson that he and Lincoln learned at space camp some time ago.

He'd have to tough things out for Lincoln's sake and try to see the best in whatever Sid wanted to do with him. He had a feeling that if Lincoln was in his position, he'd try to grin and bear, too. Besides, he was pretty sure that being kidnapped would be the height of today's insanity. How bad could things get from here?

He smiled at her, and it was her turn to look flabbergasted. "You know what, Sid? Go ahead and be my tour guide. We can always meet up with them later."

She leaped out of her seat, absolutely beaming. "Really?! You mean it?!"

Before he could affirm, he was suddenly scooped up into a mighty bear hug and swung back and forth.

"Eeeeeeeeee! Thank you so much, Clyde! I promise I won't let you down!"

'_Please let me down!'_ Clyde thought, his gut feeling queasier by the second.

The seasick sensation quelled when she finally brought him down, then flared up again once she grabbed him by the hand and raced off into the city.

"C'mon!" she cried. "I know where we can go first!"


End file.
